About Us

MamaBake is group, big batch baking for mothers.  Mums get together regularly to group, big batch bake.  Each brings one big meal, they divide it up amongst them and go home with a number of meals cooked for the week. Results? Time off, close friends, new foods for the kids and the list of benefits goes on!

Michelle Shearer: Founder & Editor

The MamaBake concept was conceived of by Michelle Shearer, surfing Mama of two children on the North Coast of NSW, Australia.

The idea was inspired when Michelle’s long-lost-and-then-found, dear school friend and Mama to four, Bec Clark, baked a big lasagne for the Shearer clan one day giving Michelle a free afternoon to go surfing instead of making dinner.

Michelle immediately wanted to reciprocate and the idea of cooking together and sharing the meals so that everyone could get some time off made sense and so MamaBake was born.

The first MamaBake session was held with four Mamas who cooked up one big dish each, they shared it out and voila!  Meals for four nights for each family.  That afternoon the MamaBakers trotted off home with sushi, chicken stew, fresh bread rolls, cheese and spinach pie and chilli con carne.

From there the MamaBake concept has captured the imagination of Mamas across the world.

Contact Michelle: mamabake@mamabake.com

Karen Swan: Community Manager & Sub Editor

Based in Canberra, and mother of one, Karen is passionate about helping women/mothers find the support, friendship and help they need to enjoy motherhood and continue to develop into the Women they aspire to be.

In February 2011, her son was just over 12 months old and she had yet to find her village and was feeling isolated in a world of Mother’s Groups and structured play classes for children, none of which felt right, and none of which she quite ‘fit’ in to.   Having other mothers over to her house was becoming more stressful than enjoyable as the pressure of having to ‘host’ and provide a lovely morning tea and a clean home was wearing her out emotionally.  She was tempted to hang a sign at her door saying, “You are welcome in my home, but don’t expect cake.”

She wanted more than that.  She yearned for support and camaraderie in Motherhood.  She wanted someone to not only eat cake with, but to bake it with her.  Enter MamaBake!

After following the movement online, she finally took action and put the call out to her friends to start the mighty MamaBake Canberra chapter.  They haven’t looked back.  From little things, big things grow:  from that first MamaBake session with five Mamas, they are now a group 70 strong!

The progression to joining the MamaBake HQ team was a logical and delightful one!

Contact Karen:  Karen@mamabake.com